In The Hands Of The Great Spirit
Mar 31, 2010 History
This is kind of a niche subject for most British readers, but the recent British Musuem exhibition on Warriors of the Plains made me curious enough to get hold of this book. It’s a comprehensive history of American Indians from neolithic times until the present day. As you can imagine, it’s probably quite abridged – that’s a lot of time to fit into one paperback. It is fairly fast-paced and it’s easy to miss a personal name or a short mention of a certain tribe or culture that becomes important 100 pages down the line or so. However, the pace does keep it entertaining, and not only does it teach you the basics of American Indian history, but it includes some folklore and mythology as well, and some lovely illustrations. Bonus! It also gives the reader a different perspective on early American history – the European colonies and wars, the Declaration of Independence and how these events affected Indians/Native Americans. It’s sympathetic without being saccharine, or falling into the patronising trap of the “noble savage” stereotype. If you have even a passing interest in history or seeing things from a new cultural perspective, give this a try.
Largest Book In The World On Show For The First Time
Jan 29, 2010 History, Unusual Releases
I, for one, plan to go and see this ASAP:
“It takes six people to lift it and has been recorded as the largest book in the world, yet the splendid Klencke Atlas, presented to Charles II on his restoration and now 350 years old, has never been publicly displayed with its pages open. That glaring omission is to be rectified, it was announced by the British Library today, when it will be displayed as one of the stars of its big summer exhibition about maps.
The summer show will feature about 100 maps, considered some of the greatest in the world, with three-quarters of them going on display for the first time.”
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Jan 20, 2010 Biography, History, Image based, Women's Literature
Moving without being sentimental or cliched, painfully honest to the point of brutality without being gratuitous, this book is basically perfect. The artwork is simple but somehow very, very expressive and this is a side of Iranian life you never get to see – it’s easy to be sort of informed if you keep up with news sources, but it’s usually in the aftermath of violence that anyone stops to ask regular Iranians what they think, and what their lives are like. The answers might surprise you.
Synopsis: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is an exemplary autobiographical graphic novel, in the tradition of Art Spiegelman’s classic Maus. Set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, it follows the young Satrapi, six-year-old daughter of two committed and well-to-do Marxists. As she grows up, she witnesses first-hand the effects that the revolution and the war with Iraq have on her home, family and school.
Saucy Jack: The Elusive Ripper
Jan 18, 2010 History, Specialist Subjects, Uncategorized
No serial killer has left a legacy like that of Jack the Ripper. Conspiracy theories abound as to who carried out a series of murders in 1888 Whitechapel, but why? Brutal crimes abounded in East London, and society didn’t care deeply about the fate of working girls, who often met violent ends.
Saucy Jack examines how these specific murders became famous, what his tells us about 1888 attitudes and social life, and how one murderer became a horror movie archetype for centuries to come. It describes the victims and facts surrounding the attacks, as well as discussing the evolution of the Ripper archetype, its presence in the media, from early newspaper accounts to modern video games and rock music, takes a close look at the “ripperologists” who spend their spare time agonising over the case, and has a skeptical look at the various conspiracy theories floating around, and why they attract people.
The East End Chronicles – Ed Glinert
Jan 11, 2010 History, Specialist Subjects
This is a very entertaining account of the history of East End London, although it does get repetitive at times – the same information appears multiple times throughout the book under different headings. Jack the Ripper, of course, is discussed at some length, but the book also gives a good overview of East End London up until the present day, including immigration patterns, some local legends and various non-Ripper grisly tales. Some of it may need to be taken with a large pinch of salt, but if you want to know more about the area then it’s a good, if perhaps sensationalised, start.
Synopsis: The East End: Roman burial ground, medieval rubbish tip, Victorian hell hole, WW2 bombing target, 21st century gentrification template. Always a rum place, the industrial revolution replaced the rose bushes and hedgerows with metallic roads and iron railways, the mud banks gave way to deep-water docks and sweatshops. East End Chronicles will tell the story of this part of London that has always enthralled writers and readers through the bizarre, the unusual, the arcane and the mysterious. Chapters on the Silk Weavers of Spitalfields; Docks, Dockers and River Pirates; Murder and Mayhem on the Radcliffe Highway; Mystics and Myth-Makers; The Blitz and Bombs; The Jewish Ghetto and more reveal the underbelly of the history of the East End.
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion – Free Download
Dec 4, 2009 History, Philosophy & Thinking, Religion and Ethics, Skeptical books
The Scottish Enlightenment was the dawn of a new way of thinking – rationalism, and the rejection of reasonless authority. Intellectuals were gathering in Edinburgh to discuss the discoveries of Newton, Copernicus and Bacon, and were churning out treatises and essays on philosophy, economics and political science at a breathtaking rate. Right in the middle of this was David Hume.
Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion consists of a debate between three characters – Cleanthes, Philo and Demea – who between them hash out some of the conflicts between rational thought and religious belief. Hume does not challenge the idea of a god as such, and this is not an atheist treatise, but he intelligently questions the assumptions of the time about such a being’s omnipotence and morality. He also presents arguments against the apparent self-evidence of intelligent design, a debate that still rages on over two centuries later.
The very idea of looking at, and questioning, the idea of god through the lens of rationality is something that many of us take for granted, and it can be hard to remember that it was once a novel concept. It’s worth picking up this book just to be reminded of that.
Free download from Librivox
The Terrifying Effects of Reading
Dec 3, 2009 Bad Books, Comedy, History
The Guardian has an article on the dangers of reading, according to 18th Century physician Samuel Auguste André David Tissot – normally a massive opponent of masturbation, in Diseases Incidental to Literary and Sedentary Persons, with Proper Rules for Preventing Their Fatal Consequences, and Instructions for Their Cure, he outlined some of the alleged unfortunate effects that reading too much can have on individuals:
“[Philosopher Nicolas] Malebranche was seized with dreadful palpitations with reading Descartes’s Man; and there is still living in Paris a professor of rhetoric who fainted away whilst he was perusing some of the sublime passages of Homer.”
If you’ve experienced any such effects after picking up some of the volumes recommended in this blog, feel free to let us know, but please remember we can’t be held liable for reading-induced faints or palpitations.
Full article over at the Guardian.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: or The Murder at Road Hill House
Dec 3, 2009 Biography, History, Specialist Subjects
I’m not really a fan of true crime. I’m never really attracted to apparently thrilling accounts of gruesome murders, and I don’t usually have a burning desire to know whodunnit – in fact, I often feel that true crime stories lack a certain sense of humanity. That being said, this book completely fascinated me and turned those expectations upside down. Kate Summerscale focusses on the rather nasty murder of a middle-class Victorian child, and in doing so, paints a very vivid picture of Victorian family life, the birth and development of the police force, and the life of a detective. Weaved into the story are tidbits about the origins of detective fiction and its terminology, the lifestyle of a nun, court proceedings and even a bit of photography. It’s very engaging, despite the gory murder at the centre of the book.
The Golden Bough: Free Download
Dec 1, 2009 History, Learning and Knowledge, Religion and Ethics
A ground-breaking study of disparate cultures across the globe, comparing practices and beliefs from the external soul in folktales to the resurrection of god-figures in an attempt to find out if there are elements common to all human cultures. It was first published in 1890, and the tone reflects this – the author’s attitude towards his subjects can be downright insulting at times, and they are frequently referred to as “primitives.” Frazer’s idea of cultural evolution, with civilisations naturally emerging from a child-like belief in magic to gradually embrace the scientific method, may be a little simplistic, and some of his research methods have been heavily criticised. However, this remains a classic work of comparative cultural anthropology and was absolutely pioneering for its time, and is still an eye-opening insight into the nature of belief and the many forms it takes.
The Right Way to Do Wrong: An Expose of Successful Criminals – free download.
Nov 24, 2009 History, Philosophy & Thinking, Skeptical books, Special Offers
Sticking with our magic theme this week we have a great release for anyone interested in magic. Writen by Houdini himself, The Right Way To Do Wrong is an interesting look in to the techniques of what has to be the world’s greatest magician.
Houdini spent a lot of his time debunking people who made fraudulent claims, from psychic abilities to magical powers. The Right Way is Houdini’s first book and is more directed towards exposing criminal activity, but there is a passage or two on “spiritual frauds”. From Burglars, thieves, pickpockets and beggars it’s all covered here, but don’t take my word for it. You can download a free copy of the audio book here.
LibriVox recordings are Public Domain in the USA. If you are not in the USA, please verify the copyright status of these works in your own country before downloading, otherwise you may be violating copyright laws.
SYNOPSIS: The legendary Harry Houdini started the tradition of magicians debunking charlatans and revealing secrets of the trade that continues today through the likes Penn and Teller or James “The Amazing” Randi. But Houdini went even further here, in this delightful 1906 novelty: he revealed the working secrets of thieves, swindlers, and con artists. Culled from his conversations with “the chiefs of police and the most famous detectives in the world,” Houdini’s tales of the tricks of the trade of beggars, pickpockets, and burglars are instructive and amusing. The master showman was also a surprisingly entertaining writer-and this is one of his most enjoyable books, one that will enthrall readers of true crime as well as fans of Houdini himself. Hungarian-American magician and professional skeptic EHRICH WEISS (1874-1926)-aka Harry Houdini, “Handcuff King and Jail Breaker”-also wrote Magical Rope Ties and Escapes (1920) and A Magician Among the Spirits (1924).
Amazon Link
